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User blog:KKytes/Third Arc for Newbies: A Simple Guide by a Simple Summoner
Hullo, everyone! So, Third Arc, also known as the "Sealed Gods of Discord", was added to the Brave Frontier Global server on September 28, 2016, and its about to reach its 1st anniversary! **Insert Cheering Here** Third Arc is probably one of the most challenging parts of the game thus far, especially during the start of it all, when you first click on the "Summoner's Home" button be it by accident or on purpose, right after you finish beating Karna Masta in Menon. Suddenly, you're thrusted into the bleak, machine filled wasteland known as "Bectas". You see a new GUI screen and are introduced to the new mechanics of Summoning Arts and the like. This guide is made to (hopefully) help the souls who are having trouble starting out. Think of it as a "Beginner's Guide to Bectas". 'The New Mechanics' 'The Summoner' Third Arc gives you the Summoner, a versatile unit who functions as the main character in Third Arc. It can equip Leader Skill Spheres, increase its own parameters, change its element, change its weapon, equip Extra Skills, and change its appearance. 'Leader Skill Spheres' The Summoner acts as the leader of your squad in Third Arc, but does not have a leader skill at first. You need to equip a Leader Skill Sphere, or a LS Sphere for short, to activate a leader skill for your squad. This Sphere is not like the ones you usually use for normal units to equip. It is exclusive to the summoner only. There is a wide roster of LS Spheres which grant their own respective Leader Skills. LS Spheres need to be crafted, and as you progress through the Third Arc's storyline, you get access to better LS Spheres. LS Spheres can be crafted in the Town menu by clicking on the "LS Sphere" building. 'Parameters' If normal units can use Imps to increase their parameters, the Summoner uses "SP" to increase theirs. This SP can be obtained by leveling up your summoner, as well as from quests. These SP can be spent on improving the summoner in the Parameters menu, found by selecting the "Summoner" button in the bottom menu, then by pressing the "Parameters" button. You can use SP to improve your unit's total HP, total Attack, total Defense, total Recovery, Spark Damage, BBAtk Damage, BC & HC Droprate, and Ailment Resistance. 'Summoning Arts' Your Summoner has the ability to change its own element, and each element gains its own EXP. This EXP helps level up your Summoning Arts for that specific element only. Leveling up your Summoning Arts help you get stronger by letting you summon higher star units, boosting their parameters, boosting their buffs, and allowing them to use their SBB and UBBs. You can find a chart showing each element and the amount of EXP they each have by selecting your Summoner in the home screen and pressing the "Summoning Arts" button in the upper right. 'Weapons' Weapons are what grants your Summoner its buff pool. Your roster of weapons grows larger the farther you progress in the game, and as of now there are a total of 19 possible weapons that can be used. The weapon you use gains Weapon EXP the more you use it. This EXP helps you get stronger by letting you use SBBs and UBBs, granting new Weapon Skills for that weapon, and allows access to EX skills which can be equipped by any weapon. Aside from this, weapons also help boost your summoner's parameters by a certain amount. This boost grows stronger the more you level up your weapon. You can find a list of unlocked weapons as well as how much EXP they each have by selecting the "Summoner" button at the bottom right corner of the home screen, then pressing the Weapons button. 'Appearance' This section is self explanatory. The Summoner can change its gender and hairstyle, and its GUI is found by selecting the Summoner unit in the main screen, then by pressing the "Manage Appearance" button in the upper right corner. You get the choice between being a Male or Female character at the start, but you can change it later at the cost of three gems. 'Bectas: Map Analysis' Bectas is divided into seven main areas, with an included extra dungeon, giving a total of eight areas for you to fight and visit. Just like the past quests in both Grand Gaia and Ishgria, expect each level to have a difficulty curb, as well as a certain gimmick. In Bectas' case, however, the gimmick is the reoccurring machine theme, seen in the new enemies you face, the bosses, and the boss of the world literally being called the "Divine Machine". In fact, majority of the bosses you face, with the exception of the Divine Machine, are all related to the "Prelude to the War" batch in one way or another. 'Grinding' Third Arc's main mechanic of Summoning Arts entails a TON of grinding to get strong. Each level provides a certain amount of Summoner EXP, SP, Summoning Arts EXP, and Weapons EXP. A comprehensive list of the amount of Summoner EXP, SP, Summoning Arts EXP, and Weapons EXP are found in the Bectas page of the Wikia, which I will post a link to at the end of the article. However, for ease of access, here's a small list of the best grinding spots per area. Iron District: Feeling Resistance (Bring something against paralysis) OR Battle Playbook Selza Arsenal: Incoming Iron (4 boss units. Feeling Resistance grants more Summoner EXP though. Be very careful not to get overwhelmed!) OR Weapons Loaded Demolished Site: Broken Machines (Reis has lots of damage potential. Be careful!) OR Iron Mountain (Deal with the Lich first, and bring curse resists.) Tech City Mersas: Souless City OR Path of Extinction Information Tower: Tower of Knowledge OR Data Overload (Impal inflicts weak and curse) Zoldas Mountain: Bit of a difficulty spike if you're not ready. Extreme Development is doable for grinding, but bring status null. Elevated Station: Ancient Wings (Best) 'Units to Bring' Once you have your first Summoning Pedestal unlocked after beating the Divine Machine in Tech City Mersas, you can bring one unit from your roster who follows the restrictions. Here is a list of units per element that work well in Third Arc. Note that all of these units exist at 5* evolutions. The list excludes any limited edition units, including Global Exclusives. In Bectas, considering you're starting out, a damage management buff is an absolute must. This includes standard 50% damage mitigation, defense boosts, elemental damage reductions, and attack/defense down debuffs. Following that is health related buffs as well as BC management buffs. In my opinion, the units who prove most beneficial in their respective element are as follows: Fire Berdette (Attack/Defense down, Hitcount buff, Defense relative to Attack boost) Golzo (Burst BC boost, Burst HP boost, BCoT, Adds Fire and Thunder Elements to Attack) Water Sera (Free unit! Burst BC boost, Burst HP boost, and Ailment Cleanse.) Averus (Random ailment infliction helpful, HP when attacking, Mitigation) Soleil (Burst HP, Ailment Cleanse, BC on Hit, HP on Hit. Does not attack.) Earth Lin (Free unit! HoT, BCoT, Status Ailment Negation. Does not attack.) Dolk (Stat cleanse, Mitigation, Defense Boost) Leona (Chance of Attack/Defense Down, Chance of Attack/Defense down on attack, adds Water, Earth elements to attack) Lightning Pamela (Defense Boost, Defense relative to Attack, BC & HC droprate boost) Lafiel (Mitigation, BC on Spark) Light Layla (Burst HP boost, Ailment Cleanse, HoT, BC when hit, HP when hit. Does not attack.) Krantz (Mitigation, Ailment Cleanse, Light/Dark Elements added to attack) Astall (Chance of Attack/Defense down on attack, adds Light, Dark elements to attack, BC & HC droprate boost) Dark Laberd (Mitigation, Defense Boost, BC when hit) Eclise (Burst HP boost, Burst BC boost, Ailment Negation, Light/Dark Elements added to attack, Atk/Def/Rec Negations. Does not attack.) Zeal (BCoT, BC on Spark, BC Efficacy) Dealing with the Divine Machine The Divine Machine shows up a total of three times in battle, and is without a doubt the biggest pain to deal with in Bectas. You face it once in Tech City Mersas, and two other times in the "Elevated Station". After beating it in Tech City Mersas, you unlock the first Summon Pedestal, allowing you to bring one unit of your choice into Third Arc, with some restrictions, of course. Here are some tips for each battle with the Divine Machine. 'Battle 1: Tech City Mersas' - You're restricted to only using a 6* Reda with an unlocked SBB as a friend. Thanks to this, you're granted a 20% BC Efficacy buff as well as a BC, HC, Zel, Karma, and Item droprate buff via her LS. She acts as a BB management unit, granting a BC and HC droprate boost in both her BB and SBB, a BCoT buff on her BB, and a BC when hit on her SBB. - The Spear is better than the Sword in this case. The fact that it grants a Defense boost buff helps in survivability. - Seeing as you don't have a healer yet, items are important. Bring cures, revives, and fujins if need be. Aside from this, elemental stones could help a ton. - Be sure to have your BB gauges filled before you enter the boss stage. - The Divine Machine attacks with either an AoE called "Radiation" or a normal, single target attack. Aside from this, it uses "AD Bomb", a single target nuke. Radiation is used almost every turn, and AD Bomb is used every 3 turns. - The Divine Machine can inflict paralysis. Bring stimulants. - "Unknown Bug" is an attack which doesn't damage you persay, but inflicts a vast array of status ailments on you, including paralysis, sickness, and weak. It happens every 5 turns. 'Battle 2: Elevated Station, Central Block' - If you thought the first battle with the Divine Machine was hard, wait 'till you face it again here. - You're not restricted to any friend here, so bring your best. Preferably one with a heal or a defense buff, or maybe one which can nuke. - Bring items you deem important to get the job done. - Again, make sure you have all your BB gauges filled before you reach the boss room. - Extra note: Be extra wary when it comes to treasure boxes. Mimics could come out, and they're almost as strong as some of the other bosses you encountered in Bectas. - The Divine Machine is vulnerable to Attack Down and Defense Down, so use that to your advantage. - The Divine Machine gets a new move called "Plasma Shield". Basically it gives itself a thunder shield to mitigate some damage. - Radiation happens almost every turn, and AD Bomb happens every two turns. - At 50% HP, Plasma Charge activates. This gives the Divine Machine an attack boost, making all of its attacks beforehand more deadly. It also uses "Plasma Shield" the same turn as "Plasma Charge". - Past the 30% threshold, the Divine Machine doesn't attack, and grants itself a defense buff. Afterwards, it does an AoE nuke called "Alpha Phaser". Mitigate or guard. 'Battle 3: Elevated Station, Departing' - Friend restricted to 7* Lugina, meaning you get access to the UBB for the first time. You get a 120% boost in attack and defense for the first two turns thanks to his LS, as well as a 10% chance to reduce incoming damage by 25%, and a 25% BB gauge reduction cost. Aside from this, you're granted an attack boost and a burst BC fill buff in his BB, a defense boost and defense ignore buff in his self filling SBB, and a BBAtk boost and self attack boost in his UBB. TLDR, Lugina can nuke. - You're thrust straight into the battle, so fujin your mitigator immediately. - The battle flows just like in "Central Block", with the exception that it's much, MUCH easier with Lugina on your side. The Divine Machine uses the same moves and follows the same pattern, so nothing to worry about there. - Use Lugina's UBB whenever possible. It makes the battle go by so much quicker. 'The Extra Dungeon: Dealing with Duel-SGX' - No friend restriction, so bring what you want. - Duel-SGX mainly has three moves it attacks with: "Destruction Mode III", an attack that grants it a 15% critical hit rate buff for three turns, "Deadlands", a random target attack which does a ton of damage, and "Blood Protocol", an AoE which has a 100% poison chance and a 20% boost to afflicted foes. It preforms it every three turns, so be very careful. - Past the 60% threshold, Duel-SGX gets two new moves to use: "Destruction Mode: M", which grants it a 20% crit rate buff, a 20% attack buff, and adds both fire and dark elements to its attack for three turns, and "World's End", an AoE granting it a 20% crit rate buff and adds a dark element to its attack, which it preforms every 5 turns. Aside from this, Blood Protocol now happens every two turns instead of three. - Units which can restore HP, cleanse ailments, and add light elements to attack shine here. Aside from this, BB management is crucial. As such, popular units include Eclise, Layla, Laberd, and so on. - Beating Duel-SGX grants you a gem and the "Great War Axe". It's a good weapon which grants a 110% attack boost and a 40% crit rate boost on its BB, and a 120% attack boost, 50% crit rate boost, and a 25% crit damage boost on its SBB. Not bad. 'Important Things to Remember' '1. Items are your friends.' You're starting out, and have very little buffs at your disposal. It's important to stock up on items such as revives, cures, and fujins. You could also opt for some Angel Idols, Elemental Stones (for mono type teams), and Attack/Defense Potions. '2. Get some good friend leads.' Considering that the Third Arc's been out for almost a year now, you can expect that there are many players who are active in it. Most likely, some of your friends are already high leveled with good gear. There's nothing wrong with using them as friend leads to breeze past hard parts of the game. '3. Guard and Mitigate' Guarding and Mitigating are incredibly important in Third Arc. Even simple defense up buffs will do. Surviving longer is key. '4. Mimics' The danger of Mimics are back, and are more dangerous than ever. Be extra careful when opening chests. Sometimes it's just not worth it. 'External Links' Bectas Map I hope this post helped! Sorry if it's a bit all over the place; just trying to get into the whole "blog making" thing. Stay safe, and happy summoning! (ovo)/ Category:Blog posts